Portret van een onbekende vrouw met jas en hoed 1880 - 1900

This portrait of an unknown woman in a jacket and hat was produced by Viuda de Amayra y Fernandez in Madrid, but its date is unknown. The studio name inscribed at the bottom provides a place to begin situating this image in its social and institutional context. This photograph is from a time when photography was more widely accessible and portrait studios sprung up in cities across Europe. Photography allowed people from middle-class backgrounds to participate in the tradition of portraiture, which was previously only accessible to the upper classes through painting. We can consider what role the sitter's clothing and pose play in communicating her social status, but without any further information, we are left to guess at her identity. To gain a deeper understanding of this image, we might consider resources like city directories or business records from Madrid in order to learn more about the studio and its clientele.